Description
Book SynopsisFinding biopolitics unable to adequately reveal the mechanisms of power that govern contemporary life, Elizabeth A. Povinelli offers "geontopower" as a new theory of power that operates through the regulation of clear distinctions between life and nonlife.
Trade Review"
Geontologies is a dense work that resists being described in telegraphic terms, based as it is in dazzling and far-reaching theoretical and philosophical readings. But Povinelli’s key concepts of 'geontology' and 'geontopower' are an invaluable contribution to our much-needed critical lexicon, [and] the concepts and modes of engagement presented in
Geontologies, though firmly rooted in the experience and particular governance of Australian settler late liberalism, demand to be taken up and
translated in other contexts." -- Shela Sheikh * Avery Review *
"
Geontologies may well inspire new possibilities for thinking, relating and being." -- Eve Vincent * Australian Aboriginal Studies *
“
Geontologies is a challenging, exhilarating, and terrifying read. Challenging and exhilarating for all those interested in what deep ethnographic inquiry has to offer to a broad range of contemporary philosophy and social theory. And terrifying and exhilarating for those who find themselves asking whether the drama of Life’s possible extinction really matters.” -- Andrea Muehlebach * Anthropological Quarterly *
"Short, conceptually packed . . . a rewarding read that will keep reverberating." -- Mario Blaser * Journal of Anthropological Research *
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Geontologies contributes valuably . . . offering a sophisticated account of the Australian context as well as analytic tools and vocabulary to continue the work elsewhere." -- Zoe Power & Kirsten McIlveen * Social & Cultural Geography *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments x
1. The Three Figures of Geontology 1
2. Can Rocks Die? Life and Death inside the Carbon Imaginary 30
3. The Fossils and the Bones 57
4. The Normativity of Creeks 92
5. The Fog of Meaning and the Voiceless Demos 118
6. Downloading the Dreaming 144
7. Late Liberal Geontopower 168
Notes 179
Bibliography 195
Index 209
